The disclosed device generally relates to devices for maintenance of floors, and more specifically to devices to assist in moving floor maintenance equipment to and from a work site where movement of the equipment over considerable distances, over obstacles, or up and down stairs is required.
The free standing equipment used for sanding, cleaning, polishing and buffing floors by a single operator can be unwieldy and difficult to maneuver. These devices typically comprise a motor unit enclosed within a rotary housing having one or more floor engaging rotary implements. A handle member is pivotally connected to the rotary housing, where the handle member extends to the operator's hands, where controls are located for the operator to guide and control the unit. A variety of different rotary implements may be utilized for maintaining a floor, such as brushes, a sanding disc, a polishing disc, etc. These devices typically have a pair of small wheels extending backwardly from the rotary housing, where the wheels must be small enough so they do not make contact with the floor surface when the rotary implement is in full engagement with the floor surface. While these devices perform a variety of different floor maintenance tasks, they are commonly referred to as “buffers”, which name will be used herein in description for devices which perform all of these tasks.
The above described buffers are typically heavy, with almost all of the weight carried in the lowermost section of the device where the motor, gearing, and rotary assembly are placed. This weight is advantageous when operating the buffer because it imposes a substantial force against the rotary implement as it rotates on the floor surface. Moving the buffer is relatively easy when the motor is on and the rotary implement is rotating on a floor surface. However, moving the buffer when the motor is off can be quite difficult.
Typically, when not in operation, the above-described buffers are moved by pushing down on the handle to lift the rotary implement off of the floor causing the small built-in wheels at the back of the rotary housing to engage the floor or ground surface. However, because the wheels are small and only engage the ground surface when the handle is pushed a sufficient amount downwardly, the built-in wheels are, at best, suited for straight movements of short distances across generally level terrain. Because of the weight of the buffer, turns on the small wheels can cause the wheel on one side to lift off of the floor surface and cause the wheel on the other side to bind and slide through the turn, such that the operator is essentially dragging the device through the turn. Moving the buffer is particularly difficult when it must be moved long distances, lifted over obstacles such as hoses, curbs, bumps, or taken up or down flights of stairs. Because of the small size of the built-in wheels, the buffer is usually carried up flights of stairs, usually requiring at least two people to carry the heavy unit.
For purposes of this disclosure, the aforementioned built-in wheels will hereinafter be referred to as “rollers” to avoid confusion with the wheels of the present invention. However, it is to be appreciated that, as used herein, the term “rollers” refers to the wheels typically found on the various floor maintenance equipment for which the presently disclosed apparatus is suited.